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We know that Italy and Northern Europe are renowned for their art, but what about Spain? In this absorbing and original series, Spanish art gains centre stage as art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon goes on the road to reveal the fabulous art treasures of the country. Travelling from the south to the north he explores some of Europe's most important artists from Renaissance to Modernist - including Goya, Picasso, Dali, El Greco and Velasquez. And, going 'off the beaten track', he reveals rich insights into the culture and people who live and work with the greatest Spanish art and architecture every day. From Moorish art and the Islamic legacy on Spain and Europe to Modernism, Seville to Barcelona, food and wine, Andrew reveals that Spanish culture is every bit as rich as Italy's, with a more surprising edge.
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Episode 1
49 mins
The Moorish culture of 'Al-Andalus' (nearly all Iberia) was a staggering height in both European and Mediterranean culture, especially under the breakaway caliphate of Cordoba, a model of inter-cultural fertilization and religious tolerance for Christians and Jews. With its breakdown into petty Muslim kingdoms, the bloody stage was set for seven centuries of gradual reconquest by the Christian crusaders, who would wipe them out and chase all infidels, even converts, from the peninsula after the fall of Nasrid sultanate Granada, which created the Alhambra, yet couldn't part with all its rich legacy.





